Improvement in railway car-brakes



t nu e h H m 8 h S. 2 B R D" O D & E R v E F E L ailway Car Brake;

Patented March 29, 1870.

Jizvenz-oz" llllll I 1 NM N N. PETERS, Pholo-Lhhognphsr, Wuhin m. D. c.

. 2,Sheets-She et 2. LEFEVRE 8L DORRE.

waited swa gated dhyiflirr.

Letters Patent N 101,280, dated March 29, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILWAY CAR-BRAKES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, DESIRE PARFAIT Liirnvnn and LOUIS PHILLIPE Donna,in the Empire of France, civil en gineors, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Self-acting Railway-Brakes; andwe do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, which'will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part ofthis-specification,

Our invention refers to a new or improved system of self-actingrailway-brake operated by'the bufl'crs.

In order to make the invention better understood, we have representedthe same in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 shows,'invertical elevation, alongitudinal section of a carriage-frame, wheretoour invention is applied.

Figure 2 shows, in vertical elevation, a transverse section of the same,through the line A B.

Figure 3 shows a plan of the same; and

In these figures the same letters of reference indicate the like parts,the full lines showing the apparatus. set up for operation, and thedotted lines showing the same apparatus at rest.

One of the carriage-axles has a movable cylindrical collar, a, formedwith a check, a.

This collar is connected by two rods, 1) b, to the ends of thecentrifugal-action arms 0 c, which arms are jointed to the opposite endsofthe lugs c on the axle, near one of thewheels.

The arms 0 are provided with suit-able counterweights.

At the outer part oi the check or collar 0,, on the sleeve 11, and closethereto, is a vertical piece, f f, formed with a horizontal knee at itsupper part.

The piece f f is suspended on one side from the traction-rod by the armg, and on the other part from the frame by the arm h.

The traction-rod -n is provided with a bent finger, g, which is broughtiii-contact with a stop on the car frame when the car is in motion, andthe centrifugal arms are extended, as shown in fig. 2, or instead ofthis bent finger, the arm 9 may be elbowed at its up per end, forming anextension which is to meet, on its being lowered by the balls, the hookpart of a stop,

z, hanging from the frame.

The arms 0 c of the balls are extended so as to receive the articulatedportion of rods (1, the other ends of which are elbowed, and have eyesthrough which the rods b are strung, and serve to confine spiral,springs, which are compressed between the elbows on the rods cl and theends of the rods 1), which last are jointed o the arms 0.

When the car is not running or the speed is slow,

the action of the two springs is to depress the arms 0 0 down on theaxle which moves the arm 9 to the oblique position shown by dottedliues1 by the fork f bearing on the collar cheek.

When the train is progressing, the balls will rccede from the axle,carrying along the sleeve a, and the vertical fork f follows this motionuntil arrested by the bent linger g or by the cont-act bet-ween theelbowed arm of rod 5 and the stationary hook The arm by its pivotingaction, also carries along the slicathj, through which passes freely thetractionrod n. This sheath, which the arm 9 is keyed to,

loans at one end against the cross-barjof the frame,

and has at the opposite end a winged heath-Io 1:, tirnry secured on saidsheath. The head 7.? k is therefore, in connection with the cLmt-rifngalregulator, and its angular motions regulated by it.

When the speed is slow the wings of the head are opposite to the twocorresponding wings, II, which arev keyed onto the traction-rod.

When the train is in progress, and the speed has reached a degreegreater than required, the hcadk, by being turned by the centrifugalapparatus, will unmask the wings I, which will admit the traction-rod tobe forced back by the action of the buffers p p be neat-h the vehicle,thus bringing the brake apparatus into action.

This apparatus, the form or shape of which may vary indefinitely,consists (in the application shown) of a lever, q, acted upon by thestriking spring 0, which is keyed to the traction-rod a, said leveroscillating (under the receding action of this springlronud a horizontalshaft, g, which actuates the tightening rods 0 'r 'r r and thebrake-blocks s s s s, and thereby the whole of the force on the buffersmay be applied to the brake-shoes S S, except what is counteracted bythe resistance of the return apparatus, which last is ar ranged asfollows:

To the ends of the traction-spring O, opposite to the spring 0, arejointed the horizontal rods tt, which are themselves articulated to thehorizontal levers n a, pivoted round the stationary points a; x.

The levers a a touch, with or without pressure, the back part of thespring 0, or any point on the traction-rod n, in such a manner as neverto materially impede the motion of the tightening-lever q.

The connecting-rods v 4: may be, when desired, terminated by a slide, orthe levers a a may be so disposed as to utilize all or part of thepressure borne by the spring 0. I

The wings I are so located as not to hinder the lengthening of thetraction-rod which is free beneath the frame to move in the direction ofthe drawing force. The spring 0 is permitted to move its whole extent(being flattened or depressed) in either direo ,ance to the recoil ofspring 0 and'to the play of the operation through the medium of thelevers n and tion. The head It and the distance which separates it fromthe wings lare so calculated as to allow the traction-rod, when inoperation, a sufiicient recoil, and to preyent any weanof thebrake-blocks, and to secure the eiiiciency of the brake, whatever may bethe wear thereof.

The pivots of the levers u a and the spring 0' are so disposed andproportioned as, first, to oppose to the initial recoil of the spring 0a sutiicicnt resistance for all conditions, on the line chiefly fordescents; secondly, to regulate at will such resistance, when desired,by the tension of the couplings and the spring 0'; thirdly, to present,when in operation, no resistbrakes; in other words, to utilize whollythe push of the butters by one end at least of the vehicle.

Our brake is operated by the pressureof the butters at the will of theengineer, or any official appointed therefor. But'it is necessary that,previous to his action, the speed of the train may reach acertain pitchor a given limit.

At rest, the regulator is laid down on the axle, the head It opposingthe motion ofthe wings I.

Supposing that in the position of rest or at a speed inferior to thelimit determined, a recoil motion is imparted to the carriage, then thespring 0 yields, and the traction-rod n is forced back; but its wings Icome against the head, and the blocks 3 are brought near to the wheels,but not so near that any pressure will be exerted on the wheels, and thecarriage is still free to recede.

\Vhen the train is in progress, as soon as the limit of speed isreached, the halls are sufliciently apart for the fork f to cause the.wings I to be unmasked by" the head 7;. Thiswe call the gearing orthrowing in position. At this time the bent finger g arrives against itsstop, or the elbowed portion of the rod 9 meets the hook s, which limitsthe action of the centrifugal apparatus. The latter, therefore, remainssuspended, and all contact or friction is suppressed between' the forkand the sleeve or collar. Then a resistance, proceeding fronr'thehead-brake, is produced on all the buffers, and the traction-rod n,actuated by the recoil of the buffer-rods p and of the spiiugO, is freeto move back beneath the carriage, the wings I passing by those of thehead It, so that the lever it will receive the force on thebnlferaaodzmply it to the brakeblocks ss. Thus the pressure of thebufi'ers will be entirely utilized for the tightening of the blocks onthe wheels, whatever may be the wear of the wheels and blocks.

The tightening being effected, the apparatus draws back to its position,by virtue of the action of the opposite spring 0, which is placed undertension by this rods t, and which tends to'resume its initial positionas soon as the pressure of the brakes has subsided. This drawback iseffected progressively and without any jar, though itis,'.ho\vever,energetic and efiective, whatever may be the condition of the brake. Infact, in arranging the arms of the levers u in the proportion of two toone, the intensity of the pressure exerted when the reaction is takingplace by these levers on the traction-rod of the brake, may be equal tohalf of the flattening force of the spring 0'.

Should the train stop without the brakes being acted upon,the-apparatuswill be itself thrown out by the slackening effect on the centrifugalapparatus, so

that there is no need of having the brakes thrown off by an attendant,which is very important, principally for manoeuvering a train. It willalso permit an englue to be attached to the rear of a traih in ascendingsteep inclines. 7

Our brake may be applied to any hand-brake, and act on the blocks in anyother manner than by the levers described.

\Ve propose to apply our throwing-in device to the two ends of acarriage, should it be deemed desirable.

It is evident that a different arrangement of substantially the samedevices may be provided to effect the throwingiu, without departing fromthe spirit of our invention.

The advantages of our system of brake may be summed up as follows:

First, integral utilization of the bufl'er pressure.

Second, secure and regular working, without any jar or reactions.

Third, suppression of blocka'egulating apparatus.

Fourth, ready climbing of the ascents with the engine at the heel of thetrain. 4

Fifth, ready niamnuvering at the station.

Sixth, good service insured on steep descents.

\Ve will observe, lastly, that- First, the apparatus-bearing car isquite independcut, that is to say, it can enter the composition of anytrain of any company who would not have adopted the same. In likemanner, companies who would have adopted it will be able to introduce intheir trains carriages unprovided with the brake; and I Secondly, ourinvention may be very properly and advantageously applied to theso-called American carriages, which are provided with two swivelingtrucks and four axles, by considering each truck as a special car, amlfitting the gearirig-apparatus.to only one of the four axles, to thusutilize its action tirom one frame to the other.

Having thus described our invention,

\Ve claim asnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. Thecombination of a centrifugal governor, substantially such as hereindescribed, with a tractionrod and brake-operating apparatus, whenarranged to prevent or permit the action of the brake-operating devices,substantiallyin the manner specified.

2. A set of levers, j, g, and h, the wings I, and a winged head, 7:, ortheir equivalents, arranged in combination with the centrifugal governorand the traction-rod, so as to constitute an apparatus whereby the forceof the weights may be utilized to cause the action of the brake-blocksonly when the speed exceeds the limit required, substantially asspecified.

3. The combination of the spring 0', the connect-- ing-rods It t, andthe levers a u, with the spring 0, when arranged to relieve the brake,to offer resistance to the action of the spring 0 on the brakes, and tosuppress the said resistance, when required, a substantially specified.

D. LEFEVRE. Donna. Witnesses:

A. Goren, F. OLCOT'I.

